The Empire of Ashes cover art

The Empire of Ashes

The Draconis Memoria, Book 3

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The Empire of Ashes

By: Anthony Ryan
Narrated by: Steve West
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About this listen

Armies will clash and ancient secrets will be revealed in The Empire of Ashes, the thrilling conclusion to Anthony Ryan's Draconis Memoria series.

The White Drake's army has cut a bloody swathe across the world, leaving nothing but ash in its wake. Thousands of innocents have died beneath its blades, and countless more will surely follow.

Only small-time criminal Claydon Torcreek and master spy Lizanne Lethridge - along with their ragtag band of allies - stand between the White Drake's fury and the world's end.

To save the future, they must delve into the past - and unravel a timeless mystery that might just turn the tide once and for all.

©2018 Anthony Ryan (P)2018 Hachette Audio UK Fantasy Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant  
A brilliant conclusion to the trilogy. I can't wait for A. Ryan"s next set of novels.

Brilliant

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Absolutely loved the series, the magic system, the steam punk tie-in and the depth to the characters

Spellbinding

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A satisfying wrap up to a well-written trilogy. Anthony Ryan has done a great job.
His magic system with dragons is just astonishing. The complexity of war, politics, intrigue and the magic of dragon blood was keeping me satisfied till the very last pages. The way the author is able to draw the reader into the action at different parts of his fantasy world is terrific and makes this read so much more engaging, yet without over complicating the plot.
This book stands out from the shelf of fantasy books of a similar genre. What a great writing style!
So why four stars? Although on paper everything was there and the magic, and events were so well developed, I felt that I didn’t fall in love with the characters. The heroes have just not grown enough for me. There were emotions and hinting at what might happen next, but there could have been so much more...

Steve West does a fair job. He is is trying to give characters their own unique voices and I really wanted to loose myself in this listen, but he just doesn’t have the magic that Anthony Ryan has spread. One more time, a different narrator could make this audiobook so much more enjoyable and powerful.

Dangerous & wonderful magic in the dragons world.

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First book was a little slow in its build up and felt concerned that it would remain so throughout however gladly I was wrong and this has ended as one of my favourite trilogy’s to date!! A must read....

A grower

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Unreal. Amazing story and incredible narration! Loved the entire series from start to finish. Total must listen.

Unreal. Amazing story and incredible narration!

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The Draconis Memoria series is a highly unique fantasy epic trilogy that is brought to a close with this book.

Ryan brings to life interesting characters in an interesting world set in victorianesq/ wild west world with magic being provided by dragon blood with simple rules to follow.

Ryan successfully keeps the narrative threads on an even keel meaning that at no point was I wanting one chapter to end to get to another thread. This includes the Cyrus line where despite the enemy being a cross of the Borg and Tyranids Ryan successfully makes the characters relatable and clearly someone that has read the evil overlords list.

Ryan did a good job of tying up all the threads to this story but leaving enough minor ones available that another series in this world is easily workable

TLDR: Unique Epic fantasy would recommend

A good end to a unique fantasy epic

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Wonderful story with an excellent narrator. I found book hard to get into but then I got hooked. Fantastic narrator and I didnt want the story to end.

excellent final book

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Unlike the last trilogy, I found Anthony Ryan spending far too much time on dull plot lines and elements that made no sense.

I also cannot understand the switch from Steven Brand who I think is excellent. I see there were plenty who agreed with the change so maybe I am in the minority but I thought he was excellent.

A Spoiler alert here so I will seem a bit of space for you:










The endless quest to finally get the blacks to agree to join, to then see the thousands drop to 50 to then 1. What on earth was the point. What a complete waste of time. I simply do not get it.

I found myself wanting to skip forward.

The magic element was great and Anthony Ryan is truly a great author but I think there were some big plot holes in this one.

Not quite what I was hoping for

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Couldn't stop listening! Brilliantly written action and intrigue with a refreshing take on the genre.

Addictive!

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This series has really grown on me. The characters are not as instantly likeable as Vaelin but they have come to life over the three instalments. Ryan makes a pretty decent fist of handling the final climax - yes it’s not as epic as a Sanderson conclusion - but it’s still pretty darned good.

So worth persevering with I would say. Well done Anthony.

Fine Ending to the Series

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